A Spatio-Temporal Water Mains Integrity Management Program for California

California’s water infrastructure entails significant operational and managerial responsibilities related to the need to safeguard public health. To help meet its complex water-related challenges, the California Water Service Company (Cal Water) is developing a water mains integrity management program (WMIMP) to (i) reduce life cycle costs (affordability), (ii) quantify and manage risk, (iii) renew infrastructure elements, and (iv) consistently deliver excellent service to customers. This paper describes the implementation of a spatio-temporal analysis based on information contained in a geographic information system (GIS) to identify high risk zones and predict failures based on the relevant parameters, which will help manage risk and support a high level of confidence in the decision making process. This is currently a work in progress and a comprehensive report will be presented at a later date once the project’s outcomes can be fully evaluated. The authors believe that this project will lay the foundation for a standardized platform of sustainable life cycle assessments for individual elements of the water infrastructure based upon a systematic approach.